Saturday, April 29, 2017

Grand Old Party Poopers

A restive right flank willing to defy party leaders dealt him a humiliating setback on health care last month. That called into question whether Republicans will ever make good on their longstanding promise of repealing and replacing former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. If they can't, they will likely also struggle to produce the sweeping tax legislation and massive infrastructure investments that Trump promised.

The White House is pushing House GOP leaders to try again on health care, and there's been recent progress as the conservative House Freedom Caucus endorsed the latest version of the bill. But leaders are struggling to round up support from more moderate Republicans, and it's uncertain when or if the legislation will come to a vote.

Meanwhile, the government is operating under a one-week, stopgap spending bill to avert a shutdown on Saturday, which coincides with Trump's 100th day in office. Lawmakers needed more time to finish their sweeping $1 trillion legislation for the remainder of the 2017 budget year, work that is Congress' most basic function.

The White House intervened in the negotiations late in the game to make demands on issues including the U.S.-Mexico border wall - subsequently dropped. That was an intervention even some Republicans said was not productive.

With little in the way of actual results so far, some Republicans have begun to fret openly about their thin record of accomplishments, and sound alarms about a backlash from voters if the GOP doesn't begin to produce.